German Airline Loses Court Case

In one of the first cases of it’s kind in Germany – the airline carrier TUIfly has been ordered by a court in Hanover, Germany to pay out compensation to passengers, who had their flights, disrupted, cancelled or delayed over the Autumn 2016 period, because of TUIfly crew and staff calling in sick.

Credit: tuifly.com

Two individuals had bought the case to the court, with a demand for compensation from the airline. The judges ruled in favour of the complainants and awarded the pair 800 euros ($844) and 2,000 euros , plus interest.

The delays were bought in part by the airline, cutting staff and those shortages in addition to plans to combine the company with Air Berlin, led to staff complaints and issues over working conditions, which resulted in many pilots and crew refusing to work and calling in sick.

TUI’s staff returned to work when the company offered to keep pay and conditions unchanged for three years.

The company has refunded the cost of holidays that were cancelled but more than 600 complaints have been filed at the Hanover court by customers seeking additional compensation under European Union rules.

TUI has said that the circumstances were beyond its control so it shouldn’t have to pay the compensation.

The court said on Wednesday that TUIfly did not present sufficient evidence to prove that its workers had staged a wildcat strike and did not show that it took all reasonable measures to avoid flight delays.

The ruling does not have any binding effect on the outstanding complaints against TUI.

TUI said on Tuesday that it had incurred costs of 22 million euros as a result of the disruption from workers’ sick leave.